1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to management systems and, more particularly, to a system and method for managing an instrumented node using extensible agents within the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) framework.
2. Description of Related Art
Telecommunications networks and computer networks have been steadily evolving in complexity and towards integration. It is not uncommon to encounter a vast number of complicated devices (e.g., servers, hubs, bridges, routers, brouters, switches, hosts, computers, advanced opto-electronic devices, various I/O peripherals and mass storage devices, et cetera, supplied by multitudes of third-party vendors) that are interconnected together in a seamless, interoperable network for performing myriad functions.
Coupled with the steady increase in network and device complexity, network management tools have also been concomitantly advancing. While several traditional network management tools such as xe2x80x9cpingxe2x80x9d; xe2x80x9crshxe2x80x9d; and xe2x80x9cnetstatxe2x80x9d are readily available, their overall utility in the management of today""s complicated devices is somewhat limited. Typically, it is required of current device and network management schemes to provide for monitoring and controlling a number of device/network variables such as status, hardware/firmware/software versions, port/interface information, bandwidth capability, etc. associated with particular network devices, in addition to regulate in some instances the differences between devices irrespective of their current state. Furthermore, current network management solutions are required to operate efficiently on networks of scale while avoiding the processing burden of remote login and execution.
Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is an advanced network management framework that provides a standardized management system for collecting and manipulating device variables and parameters (xe2x80x9cmanagement informationxe2x80x9d) and acting based thereon using standardized messaging. Essentially, SNMP operates based on a client/server relationship wherein the client program (called the manager) makes virtual connections to a server program (called the SNMP agent) which executes on a network device, and serves information to the manager regarding the device""s status. A database, controlled by the SNMP agent, is referred to as the SNMP Management Information Base (MIB) and is comprised of a standard set of statistical and control values pertaining to the device variables.
SNMP""s biggest strength is its widespread popularityxe2x80x94SNMP agents are available for network devices ranging from computers, to bridges, to modems, to printers. Additionally, because SNMP provides a flexible and standardized framework that operates like an application programming interface (API) to a network, different vendors can create their own network management products such as SNMP agents that can be tailored for specific devices.
Accordingly, it should be appreciated that the capability to support multiple SNMP agents in a single platform is advantageous for management purposes as more devices get added or upgraded within a network element. Conventionally, such capability is provided within the SNMP framework by employing what are known as community strings, which are flat text strings (i.e., community names) used to identify a xe2x80x9ccommunityxe2x80x9d of agents that collectively support the MIB of a managed element. These community names allow portions of the SNMP MIB and its object subsets to be commonly referenced by the use of password-like constructs.
Several shortcomings and deficiencies exist in the conventional solutions to provide support of multiple SNMP agents in a single element. For example, it is required that the SNMP manager be aware that it is communicating with multiple processing entities, i.e., agents, associated with the managed element. Further, the manager may have to switch between community strings based on what it needs to retrieve. Also, the manager has to be re-configured each time when it switches between two community strings or between two independent, non-community agents. Thus, the purpose of managing the element as a single managed node is thwarted because the manager does not xe2x80x9cseexe2x80x9d the node as single platform, rather as a partitioned collection of agents.
Additionally, conventional community string-based multi-agent solutions do not easily adapt to the Agent Extensibility (AgentX) standard which allows for multiple subagents to be registered with a common master agent that is seen as a single SNMP entity by the manager.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed in one aspect to a node management scheme that advantageously supports multiple SNMP agents in a single platform (e.g., a network element or node) with the capability to include the AgentX standard such that these and other aforementioned deficiencies and shortcomings of the conventional solutions are overcome. An SNMP master agent and one or more subagents are provided for managing the node, which use the AgentX protocol for communication therebetween. At least a portion of a Management Information Base (MIB) associated with the management functionality of the managed node is supported by an SNMP peer agent that is proxied via an AgentX subagent (PSA). The PSA registers the MIB portion with the SNMP master agent via an AgentX registration message. When an SNMP manager sends an SNMP management request to the SNMP master agent, the SNMP master agent parses the SNMP management request into one or more AgentX protocol messages depending upon the subagents involved. If an object identifier (OID) involved in the SNMP management request is part of the MIB portion supported by the SNMP peer agent, the PSA receives the appropriate AgentX message and re-assembles it into an SNMP message that is forwarded to the SNMP peer agent. An SNMP response is generated by the SNMP peer agent accordingly, which is returned to the PSA for reassembly into an appropriate AgentX response. The SNMP master agent receives all AgentX responses from the subagents and parses/multiplexes them into a single SNMP management response that is transported to the SNMP manager.
In another aspect, the present invention is related to a method of effectuating management communication in a network management system for managing a node. The management system includes an SNMP master agent and at least one SNMP peer agent, wherein the master agent is operable with the AgentX protocol and the peer agent is operable with the SNMP. An AgentX PSA is also included for facilitating packet or Protocol Data Unit (PDU) conversion between the SNMP master and peer agents. During initialization, the PSA registers at the master agent a predefined portion of a MIB associated with the managed node wherein the predefined portion of the MIB is supported by the peer agent. When the PSA receives a plurality of AgentX PDUs/packets from the master agent relating to a request by the master agent that is directed towards accessing the predefined portion of the MIB, it re-assembles the AgentX packets into a plurality of SNMP PDUs/packets. Thereafter, the SNMP packets are forwarded by the PSA to the peer agent, which generates an appropriate SNMP response message responsive thereto. The SNMP message is transmitted back to the PSA which, upon receiving the SNMP response message from the peer agent, re-assembles it into one or more AgentX response PDUs/packets. The AgentX response PDUs are subsequently forwarded by the PSA to the master agent.
In yet another aspect, the present invention is directed to an SNMP-based management system for managing a node with AgentX capability. An SNMP manager is provided for generating an SNMP management request towards a SNMP master agent associated with the managed node. At least one SNMP peer agent is included for supporting a select portion of a MIB associated with the managed node. An AgentX protocol-based PSA is operably disposed between the SNMP master agent and the SNMP peer agent in accordance with the teachings of the present invention. A processing structure is available in the SNMP master agent to parse the SNMP management request into an AgentX protocol request message directed to the PSA and to re-assemble an AgentX protocol response message received therefrom into an SNMP management response. The PSA includes a protocol converter for re-assembling the AgentX protocol request message received from the SNMP master agent into an SNMP message directed to the SNMP peer agent and to re-assemble an SNMP response received therefrom into the AgentX protocol response message.